Information handling system employing unified management bus

ABSTRACT

An information handling system includes a host including a central processing unit, a first management controller (MC) enabled to communicate with the host, and a network interface resource (NIR) in communication with the host and operable to enable the information handling system to communicate via an external network. The NIR includes a unified management module (UMM) operable to receive and route a local management packet, sent from the host, to the first management controller via a first unified management bus (UMB) and further operable to receive and route a remote management packet, sent from a remote resource via the external network, to the first management controller via the first UMB.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/411,239 filed Mar. 2, 2012; which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/683,196 filed on Mar. 7, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.8,150,953 granted Apr. 3, 2012, the contents of which are incorporatedherein in their entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is related to information handling systems and,more particularly, the management of information handling systems, bothremote and otherwise.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option for processing and storing information is an informationhandling system. An information handling system generally processes,compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business,personal, educational, governmental, or other purposes thereby allowingusers to take advantage of the value of the information.

Because technology and information handling needs and requirements varybetween different users or applications, information handling systemsmay also vary regarding what information is handled, how the informationis handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated,and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed,stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systemsallow for information handling systems to be general or configured for aspecific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing,airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications.In addition, information handling systems may include a variety ofhardware and software components that may be configured to process,store, and communicate information and may include one or more computersystems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

One type of information handling system is commonly referred to as aserver or server system. As suggested by its name, a server system mightbe described as an information handling system that provides a serviceto one or more other information handling systems. Server systemsinclude, as examples, application servers dedicated to running specifiedsoftware applications, database servers that provide database services,file servers that provide file services, web servers that communicatewith HTTP (Hypertext transfer protocol) clients to receive and respondto HTTP requests, and numerous other types of servers.

An increasingly important aspect or feature of a server system is itssystem management resources including remote management resources.Although system management concepts are not exclusively applicable toserver systems, they are particularly prevalent in such systems and theexemplary implementations of system management resources presentedherein emphasize system management resources in the context of serversystems. It is understood, however, that the system management featuresdescribed herein may also be appropriate for other classes ofinformation handling systems including, as examples, desktop systems,mobile systems including notebook or lap top systems and hand heldsystems.

System management features and requirements are growing at a rapid pace,as standards bodies such as the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF)develop specifications to increase the interoperability of productsdeveloped by independent software and hardware vendors. Of particularfocus among DMTF working groups and leaders in the server product spaceis the ability to manage servers out-of-band (OOB). OOB managementrefers to system console access provided, even in the event of primarynetwork subsystem (hard and/or software) failure. OOB management can bedone via a console server or via a remote access card (RAC) which hasits own processor, memory, battery, network connection, and access tothe system bus. OOB management is highly desirable because it permitssystem management when the primary data bus of the system, sometimesreferred to as the system bus, fails. In band (IB) management, incontrast, generally refers to the use of the system bus to manage asystem. OOB offers the prospect of managing a system precisely when thesystem is in need of management, i.e., when the system is not working.

In addition to the OOB/IB distinction, system management is alsodifferentiated by whether the management is local or remote. Forpurposes of this disclosure, local management generally refers tomanagement commands, messages, and the like that are generated by acentral processing unit of a server and sent to a management controller.Remote management, as suggested by its name, refers generally to amanagement paradigm in which management commands, messages, and the likeare transmitted and generated by a remote information handling system,i.e., an information handling system having processing and storageresource that are distinct from the processing and storage resources ofthe managed system. The remote information handling system and themanaged system are also generally located in different locations.

Conventional implementations of system management generally implementlocal management using dedicated interfaces that may include drivers,hardware, and firmware. In contrast, remote management generally employsa conventional Ethernet-based IP interface, which is typically providedby a network controller (e.g., a conventional network interface card orNIC). In such remote management implementations, the NIC provides adirect path between the external network to which the remote resource isconnected and the management controller embedded in the managed system,i.e., a path from remote resource to management controller that does notinclude the system bus of the managed system.

Differences in the implementations of local management and remotemanagement are undesirable because host management software must addressthe management controllers differently depending on whether themanagement is local or remote. Moreover, it is challenging to providefull management support to servers having multiple instances and/ortypes of management controllers using conventionally implemented networkcontrollers. Communication between two management controllers, forexample, generally requires a dedicated inter-controller interfacebecause conventional network controllers cannot simultaneously maintaininterfaces for two different management controllers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore a need has arisen to address the issues discussed in thepreceding paragraphs. The present disclosure describes an informationhandling system and method for unifying and simplifying systemmanagement in an effort to reduce distinctions between local and remotemanagement from the perspective of management applications and toaccommodate systems having multiple types of management controllers.

In one aspect, an information handling system includes a host includinga central processing unit (CPU), a first management controller (MC)enabled to communicate with the host, and a network interface resource(NIR) in communication with the host and operable to enable theinformation handling system to communicate via an external network. TheNIR includes a unified management module (UMM) operable to receive androute a local management packet, sent from the host, to the firstmanagement resource via a first unified management bus (UMB) and furtheroperable to receive and route a remote management packet, sent from aremote resource via the external network, to the first managementresource via the first UMB.

In another aspect a method of handling management packets in aninformation handling system includes receiving and routing, with a LOM,a first host management packet from a host to a first managementcontroller receiving and routing, with the LOM, a first remotemanagement packet from an external resource to the first managementcontroller. In this manner the LOM routes remote packets for the firstMC and local packets for the first MC to the first management controllerover a first physical interface.

In yet another aspect, a computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, stored on a computer readable medium, forhandling management traffic in an information handling system, theinstructions include instructions for detecting a destination address ofa first management packet received from a host, instructions fordetecting a destination address of a second management packet receivedfrom an external resource via an external network, and instructions forrouting the first and second management packets to a first managementcontroller via a first unified management bus responsive to determiningthat a destination address of the first and second management packetsmatches an address of a first management controller.

The present disclosure includes a number of important technicaladvantages. One technical advantage is the ability to make distinctionsbetween local and remote management substantially transparent to amanagement application while leveraging well developed and pervasivenetworking interfaces. Additional advantages will be apparent to thoseof skill in the art and from the FIGURES, description and claimsprovided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete and thorough understanding of the present embodimentsand advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows selected elements of an information handling systemdepicted to illustrate some of the challenges to which the presentdisclosure is addressed;

FIG. 2 shows selected elements of an embodiment of an informationhandling system employing a unified management firmware module andunified management busses, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a conceptual representation of selected elements of anembodiment of a unified management module in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 shows a table useful to determine whether a packet is destinedfor a management controller within a LAN on motherboard's domain; and

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram illustrating selected elements of a methodof handling management traffic in an information handling system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the invention and its advantages are bestunderstood by reference to FIGS. 1-5 wherein like numbers refer to likeand corresponding parts.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

Now referring to FIG. 1, selected elements of an information handlingsystem 100 are depicted to illustrate some of the challenges to whichthe present disclosure is addressed. In the depicted embodiment,information handling system 100 includes a host 102, a networkcontroller 104, a first management controller 106, and a secondmanagement controller 108.

Host 102 includes processing resources 103, e.g., one or more centralprocessing units (CPUs) and storage resources 105 that are accessible toprocessing resources 103. Storage resources 105 encompass volatilestorage or memory as well as persistent storage, e.g., disk storage,flash memory or other type of erasable read only memory (ROM), and thelike. Host 102 may also include various other peripheral or I/O devicesthat will be familiar to those in the field of data processing systemdesign.

Network controller 104 enables host 102 to communicate with externalresources via external network 120. In the depicted implementation,network controller 104 includes a management filter 115 and interfacespecific firmware modules 116 and 117. First firmware module 116provides an interface to the second management interface 111. Secondmanagement interface 111, which connects network controller 104 to firstmanagement controller 106 provides an OOB interface for remotemanagement of first management controller 106. Second firmware module117 provides an interface to third management interface 112. Thirdmanagement interface 112, which connects network controller 104 tosecond management controller 108 provides an OOB interface for remotemanagement of second management controller 108.

External network 120 may be a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork, e.g., the Internet, or a combination thereof. As depicted inFIG. 1, an network connection 119 connects external network 120 tonetwork controller 104. Network connection 119 is preferably an industrystandard network connection such as an Ethernet connection, but the typeof network connection is an implementation detail and other types ofnetwork connections (e.g., token ring or ATM) and network connectionmedium (e.g., wireless) may also be used.

In some embodiments, network controller 104 is referred to as a LAN onmotherboard (LOM) because it is embedded in a motherboard 107 of host102. In other embodiments, network controller 104 is implemented as anetwork adapter card, commonly referred to as a Network Interface Card(NIC) that is attached to a peripheral or expansion slot (not depicted)in motherboard 107. In the depicted implementation, network controllercommunicates with host 102 via an industry standard peripheral bus 109.A suitable candidate for peripheral bus 109 is a PCI Express (PCI-E)bus.

Information handling system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 includes multiplemanagement controllers. In some embodiments, first management controller106 and second management controller 108 are implemented as duplicate orredundant instances of one type of management controller. In otherembodiments, first management controller 106 is a first type ofmanagement controller and second management controller 108 is a secondtype. In some embodiments, for example, first management controller 106is a baseboard management controller (BMC) while second managementcontroller 108 represents a remote access card (RAC).

In some embodiments, a BMC includes a controller, typically embedded onmotherboard 107, dedicated to management services. One or more sensors118 built into system 100 indicate system parameters such astemperature, cooling fan speeds, power mode, operating system (OS)status. In some embodiments, the BMC monitors the sensors and can sendalerts to a system administrator if any of the parameters do not staywithin preset limits, indicating a potential failure of the system. TheBMC also preferably enables an administrator to take basic correctiveaction including, as examples, asserting a system reset or causing apower cycling the system.

In some embodiments, a RAC is an interface card that may have its ownprocessor, memory, battery, network connection, and access to the systembus. A RAC preferably facilitates remote OOB management. A RAC mayinclude design features of commercially distributed remote access cardssuch as the Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC) from Dell, Inc. The DRACsupports or enables remote power management, virtual media access, and aremote console, all of which are accessible through a supported webbrowser. The DRAC enables administrators to configure a system as ifthey were sitting at the local terminal.

In embodiments of information handling system 100 employing two or moredifferent types of management controllers, it is possible that thevarious management interfaces 110-113 are also different from oneanother. As an example, for embodiments in which first managementcontroller 106 is a BMC, first management interface 110 may include anIntelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) driver using a KeyboardController Style (KCS) protocol compliant interface as first managementinterface 110. IPMI is a well known and widely implemented specificationthat defines a set of computer hardware and firmware interfacesadministrators can use to monitor system health and manage the system.IPMI operates independently of the host operating system (OS) and allowsadministrators to manage a system remotely even in the absence of hostpower and/or a functional host OS. The fourth management interface 113,which enables direct communication between first management controller106 and second management controller 108 may, for example, beimplemented as an Intelligent Management Platform Bus (IPMB). IPMB is aninterface specification that defines an internal management, I2C-typebus for extending system management within a chassis.

The IPMI-type and I2C derivative interfaces described above as examplesof first management interface 110 and fourth management interface 113may be characterized as comparatively slow and simple. In contrast,embodiments of information handling system 100 employing a RAC or otheradvanced type of management controller for second management controller108 may employ an OOB interface that is comparatively fast and/orsophisticated. In some embodiments, for example, third managementinterface 112 coupling second management controller 108 to networkcontroller 104 may be implemented, for example, as a UMP interface overa Media Independent Interface (MII) or IEEE 802.3u bus. In thisembodiment, second firmware module 117 includes code providing thenecessary UMP interface. An MII bus a generic bus capable of connectingdifferent types of physical blocks to a common network controller. AReduced MII bus may also be substituted for the MII bus.

Completing the description of the example implementation of informationhandling system 100 depicted in FIG. 1, second management interface 111may be implemented using IPMI over a System Management Bus (SMBus). Inthis embodiment, first firmware module 116 of network controller 104includes code providing the necessary IPMI interface. SMBus is a I2Cderivative bus sometimes used to communicate with comparativelylow-bandwidth devices on a motherboard. SMBus voltage levels aredifferent than those of I2C, but there is substantial interoperabilitybetween SMBus and I2C.

It should be emphasized that the implementation of information handlingsystem 100 as described above is merely exemplary, particularly withregard to the description of specific types of management controllersand specific types of interfaces and protocols. Other managementcontroller, interfaces, and protocols may be used in lieu of thosedescribed herein. For example, an NC-SI interface may be used in lieu ofthe UMP interface provided by the previously described implementation ofsecond firmware module 117. NC-SI is an emerging DTMF standard for aNIC-sideband interface suitable for MII or reduced MII implementations.

As described above, those of ordinary skill in system design willappreciate that there may be significant differences between IB and OOBmanagement implementations and, similarly, between local and remotemanagement implementations. As described above, for example, local IBaccess to or control of management controllers 106, 108 involves hosthardware interface drivers whereas remote OOB access to or control ofmanagement controllers 106, 108 is achieved directly over standardIP-based Ethernet connections. This implementation differencesundesirably increase solutions costs, development and validationschedules, and the complexity of the final product.

Moreover, the implementation of information handling system 100 depictedin FIG. 1 includes a network controller 104 that routes and filters OOBmanagement traffic to two or more management controllers (106, 108), butthe implementation is limited because network controller 104 supportsfiltering only for remote traffic (i.e., traffic between externalnetwork 120 and management controllers 106, 108. In addition, networkcontroller 104 as illustrated employs two or more firmware modules 116,117 including a module to support each of the two or more differenttypes of management controllers 106, 108 and their corresponding OOBmanagement interfaces 111, 112.

The use of multiple firmware modules in network controller 104 isgenerally undesirable. Moreover, because network controller 104 is notable to load interface support for both management controllerssimultaneously, communication between management controllers cannottraverse the network controller and, therefore, is it undesirablynecessary to include the fourth management interface 113 for thispurpose.

Turning now to FIG. 2, selected elements of an embodiment of aninformation handling system 200 employing a unified management firmwaremodule and unified management busses as described in greater detailbelow is depicted. Information handling system 200 includes a host 202,a network interface resource (NIR) 204 in communication with host 202via an I/O bus 209. A first management controller (MC) 206 communicateswith NIR 204 via a first unified management bus (UMB) 211. A secondmanagement controller (MC) 208 communicates with NIR 204 via a secondunified management bus 212. NIR 204 connects information handling system200 to an external network 220 via a network connection 219.

Host 202, like host 102 of information handling system 100 depicted inFIG. 1, includes one or more CPU's 203 connected to a motherboard 207and storage 205. I/O bus 209 is may be implemented as a PCI-E bus or asanother suitable peripheral bus. NIR 204 may be implemented as an LOMand may be referred to herein as LOM 204. In other embodiments, NIR 204may be included as part of an adapter card, e.g., a NIC. In someembodiments, first MC 206 is a comparatively simple or slow managementcontroller while second MC 208 is a comparatively complex or fastmanagement controller. As examples, first controller 206 may be a BMCconnected to NIR 204 via a relatively simple interconnection such as anI2C connection or an I2C derivative.

LOM 204 preferably supports multiple MAC (Media Access Control)addresses and includes flexible filters. Using these resources LOM 204is preferably enabled to redirect incoming packets addressed to amanagement controller without directing the packet to host 202. Inconventionally implemented systems, management packet routing is onlyprovided for the traffic between external network 220 and one of theembedded controllers or traffic from one of the embedded controllers toexternal network 220. In information handling system 200, NIR 204 ispreferably configured to filter and route local management packets,i.e., packets between host 202 and management controllers 206 and/or208, and remote traffic, packets between an external resource (notdepicted) connected to external network 220 and management controllers206 and/or 208.

LOM 204 as depicted includes a unified management module UMM (215). Indesirable implementations, UMM 215 represents a single firmware elementof NIR 204 that facilitates management traffic. In the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 2, for example, UMM 215 routes local management trafficas well as remote management traffic. In addition, UMM routes managementtraffic to multiple management controllers including first MC 206 andsecond MC 208.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual representation of selected elements of oneembodiment UMM 215. As depicted in FIG. 3, UMM 215 includes afilter/routing layer 302, a hardware abstraction layer 304, and one ormore interconnect-specific interfaces, two of which are represented byreference numerals 306-1 and 306-2 (collectively or generically referredto herein as interfaces 306). Although the depicted implementation ofUMM 215 includes two interfaces 306-1 and 306-2, more or fewerinterfaces may be accommodated in other implementations.

Filter/routing layer 302 detects destination addresses in packetsreceived by LOM 204. Filter/routing layer 302 determines whether thedetected destination address corresponds to a physical address of amanagement controller. In some embodiments, including embodiments inwhich network interconnect 219 is an Ethernet interconnect, thedestination addresses is or includes a MAC address of the destinationmanagement controller. If the destination address of a packet matches tothe physical address of a management controller and LOM 204 locates thephysical address, filter/routing layer 302 forwards the packet tohardware abstraction layer 304.

Hardware abstraction layer 304 abstracts hardware interfaces fromfilter/routing layer 302. When a packet is forwarded from filter/routinglayer 302 to hardware abstraction layer 304, hardware abstraction layer304 executes the appropriate interface 306-1 or 306-2 to place thepacket on the appropriate physical bus. Interfaces 306-1 and 306-2include low level instructions that emulate hardware corresponding tothe applicable physical bus. If, as an example, first MC 206 supports anI2C or I2C derivative (e.g., SMBus, IPMB, or the like), physicalconnection with LOM 204, first interface 306-1 includes low levelinstructions to place a received packet onto the I2C or I2C derivativebus. As stated previously, the particular protocol or interface used ina specific embodiment is an implementation detail and any suitablemanagement protocol or management interface may be used. For example,first interface 306-1 may provide an IPMI interface and second interface306-2 may provide a UMP or NC-SI interface.

In some embodiments, filter/routing layer 302 determines whether apacket is destined for a management controller within the LOM's domainby accessing a table or data structure. Referring to FIG. 4, anexemplary such table 400 is illustrated. As depicted in FIG. 4, table400 includes a first column 402, a second column 404, and a set ofentries or rows 406-1 through 406-3 (generically or collectivelyreferred to herein as entry or entries 406). Each entry 406 represents amanagement controller and its physical interface. First column 402indicates the address of an entry's physical interface and second column404 indicates the MAC address of the interface. Table 400 may begenerated when the system is booted or during operation. Table 400 maybe created by filter/routing layer 302 or by a module in an operatingsystem of host 202.

As described above, some embodiments may be implemented as a set ofcomputer executable instructions (software) for filtering and routingmanagement traffic over a single physical interface regardless ofwhether the traffic is local or remote. The instructions are stored on acomputer readable medium such as a storage resource located on LOM 204.In one embodiment, for example, the software is stored in UMM 215.

Referring to FIG. 5, a flow diagram illustrating selected elements of amethod 500 of handling management traffic in an information handlingsystem. In the depicted embodiment, method 500 includes receiving (block502), by an LOM or other NIR, a packet having a destination address ofone of one or more management controllers of the information handlingsystem. In some embodiments, management traffic is based on Ethernetpackets. The management traffic may originate from a host of theinformation handling system or from an external or remote system anddelivered to the information handing system via an external network.

The management traffic is forwarded (block 504) to filter/routing layer302 of UMM 215. Filter/routing layer 302 then determines (block 506)whether the destination MAC address or other form of destination addressmatches any of the destination addresses stored in a table 400 ofmanagement controller interfaces and their corresponding controller MACaddresses (see FIG. 4). If (block 508) no match is found between thedestination MAC address of the management packet and any entry in table400, the packet is discarded (block 510).

If the destination MAC address matches an entry in table 400, thefilter/routing layer 302 forwards (block 512) the management packet tohardware abstraction layer 304. Hardware abstraction layer 304 thenconverts or formats (block 514) the packet as received by LOM 204 to aformat or protocol compatible with the interface between LOM 204 andfirst MC 206 or second MC 208 using interface specific modules 306-1 or306-2. Hardware abstraction layer 304 then places (block 516) theformatted packet onto the appropriate physical interface fortransmitting to the appropriate MC. It will be appreciated that theunified management busses disclosed herein unify the delivery of remoteand local management packets to a management controller.

Although the disclosed embodiments have been described in detail, itshould be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterationscan be made to the embodiments without departing from their spirit andscope

What is claimed is:
 1. A network interface resource, comprising: aprocessor; a non-transitory computer readable medium; a unifiedmanagement module including instructions in the computer readablemedium, the instructions executable by the processor and configured tocause the processor to: receive a first management packet from a hostfor the network interface resource; forward the first management packetto a first management controller via a first unified management bususing a first interface comprising an intelligent platform managementinterface included with the unified management module, the firstmanagement controller including a baseboard management controller andthe first unified management bus selected from an I2C bus and an I2Cderivative bus; receive a second management packet from the host;forward the second management packet to a second management controllervia a second unified management bus comprising a network controllersideband interface (NC-SI) using a second interface comprising asideband interface included with the unified management module; receivea third management packet from a remote resource accessible via anexternal network; forward the third management packet to the firstmanagement controller via the first unified management bus using thefirst interface; receive a fourth management packet from the remoteresource; and forward the fourth management packet to the secondmanagement controller via the second unified management bus using thesecond interface.
 2. The network interface resource of claim 1, whereinthe unified management module further includes instructions configuredto cause the processor to: format the first management packet and thethird management packet for transmission using the first interface; andformat the second management packet and the fourth management packet fortransmission using the second interface.
 3. The network interfaceresource of claim 1, wherein the unified management module furtherincludes instructions configured to cause the processor to: format thefirst management packet and the third management packet for receipt bythe first management controller; and format the second management packetand the fourth management packet for receipt by the second managementcontroller.
 4. The network interface resource of claim 1, wherein thenetwork interface resource includes a network interface card coupled tothe host via a peripheral connect interface (PCI) bus.
 5. The networkinterface resource of claim 1, wherein the network interface resourceincludes a local-area-network-on-motherboard network interface that isembedded in a motherboard of the host.
 6. A method, comprising:receiving, at a network interface resource, a first management packetfrom a host for the network interface resource; forwarding the firstmanagement packet to a first management controller via a first unifiedmanagement bus using a first interface comprising an intelligentplatform management interface, the first management controller includinga baseboard management controller and the first unified management busselected from an I2C bus and an I2C derivative bus; receiving, at thenetwork interface resource, a second management packet from the host;forwarding the second management packet to a second managementcontroller via a second unified management bus comprising a networkcontroller sideband interface (NC-SI) using a second interfacecomprising a sideband interface; receiving, at the network interfaceresource, a third management packet from a remote resource accessiblevia an external network; forwarding the third management packet to thefirst management controller via the first unified management bus usingthe first interface; receiving, at the network interface resource, afourth management packet from the remote resource; and forwarding thefourth management packet to the second management controller via thesecond unified management bus using the second interface.
 7. The methodof claim 6, further comprising: formatting, at the network interfaceresource, the first management packet and the third management packetfor transmission using the first interface; and formatting, at thenetwork interface resource, the second management packet and the fourthmanagement packet for transmission using the second interface.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising: formatting the first managementpacket and the third management packet for receipt by the firstmanagement controller; and formatting the second management packet andthe fourth management packet for receipt by the second managementcontroller.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the network interfaceresource is a network interface card coupled to the host via aperipheral connect interface (PCI) bus.
 10. The method of claim 6,wherein the network interface resource is alocal-area-network-on-motherboard network interface that is embedded ina motherboard of the host.
 11. A computer program product comprising atangible, non-transitory computer readable medium including instructionsfor causing a processor to: receive, at a network interface resource, afirst management packet from a host for the network interface resource;forward the first management packet to a first management controller viaa first unified management bus using a first interface comprising anintelligent platform management interface, the first managementcontroller including a baseboard management controller and the firstunified management bus selected from an I2C bus and an I2C derivativebus; receive, at the network interface resource, a second managementpacket from the host; forward the second management packet to a secondmanagement controller via a second unified management bus comprising anetwork controller sideband interface (NC-SI) using a second interfacecomprising a sideband interface; receive, at the network interfaceresource, a third management packet from a remote resource accessiblevia an external network; forward the third management packet to thefirst management controller via the first unified management bus usingthe first interface; receive, at the network interface resource, afourth management packet from the remote resource; and forward thefourth management packet to the second management controller via thesecond unified management bus using the second interface.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer readablemedium further includes instructions for causing the processor to:format, at the network interface resource, the first management packetand the third management packet for transmission using the firstinterface; and format, at the network interface resource, the secondmanagement packet and the fourth management packet for transmissionusing the second interface.
 13. The computer program product of claim11, wherein the computer readable medium further includes instructionsfor causing the processor to: format the first management packet and thethird management packet for receipt by the first management controller;and format the second management packet and the fourth management packetfor receipt by the second management controller.